Throughout this application various publications are referenced, many in parenthesis. Full citations for each of these publications are provided at the end of the Detailed Description and throughout the Detailed Description. The disclosures of each of these publications in their entireties are hereby incorporated by reference in this application.
Motility is one of the most critical physiological functions of the human gut. Without coordinated motility, digestion and absorption of dietary nutrients could not take place. To accomplish its functions effectively, the gut needs to generate not just simple contractions but contractions that are coordinated to produce transit of luminal contents (peristalsis). Thus, coordinated gastric contractions are necessary for the emptying of the stomach. The patterns of gastric motility are different in the fed state and the fasting state (Yamada et al. 1995). In the fed state, the stomach contracts at its maximum frequency, 3 cycles/min (cpm) in humans and 5 cpm in dogs. The contraction originates in the proximal stomach and propagates distally toward the pylorus. In healthy humans, the ingested food is usually emptied by 50% or more at 2 hours after the meal and by 95% or more at 4 hours after the meal (Tougas et al. 2000). When the stomach is emptied the pattern of gastric motility changes. The gastric motility pattern in the fasting state undergoes a cycle of periodic fluctuation divided into three phases: phase I (no contractions, 40-60 minutes), phase II (intermittent contractions, 20-40 minutes) and phase III (regular rhythmic contractions, 2-10 minutes).
Gastric motility (contractile activity) is in turn regulated by myoelectrical activity of the stomach. Gastric myoelectrical activity consists of two components, slow waves and spike potentials (Chen and McCallum 1995). The slow wave is omnipresent and occurs at regular intervals whether or not the stomach contracts. It originates in the proximal stomach and propagates distally toward the pylorus. The gastric slow wave determines the maximum frequency, propagation velocity and propagation direction of gastric contractions. When a spike potential (similar to an action potential), is superimposed on the gastric slow wave a strong lumen-occluded contraction occurs. The normal frequency of the gastric slow wave is about 3 cpm in humans and 5 cpm in dogs. A noninvasive method similar to electrocardiography, called electrogastrography, has been developed and applied to detect gastric slow waves using abdominal surface electrodes (Chen and McCallum 1995).
Abnormalities in gastric slow waves lead to gastric motor disorders and have been frequently observed in patients with functional disorders of the gut, such as gastroparesis, functional dyspepsia, anorexia and etc. (Chen and McCallum 1995). Gastric myoelectrical abnormalities include uncoupling and gastric dysrhythmia and can lead to significant impairment in gastric emptying (Lin et al. 1998; Chen et al. 1995a; Telander et al. 1978; You and Chey 1985; Chen and McCallum 1993). Tachygastria (an abnormally high frequency of the gastric slow wave) is known to cause gastric hypomotility (Lin et al. 1998; Chen et al. 1995a; Telander et al. 1978; You and Chey 1985; Chen and McCallum 1993).
Gastric emptying plays an important role in regulating food intake. Several studies have shown that gastric distention acts as a satiety signal to inhibit food intake (Phillips and Powley 1996) and rapid gastric emptying is closely related to overeating and obesity (Duggan and Booth 1986). In a study of 77 subjects composed of 46 obese and 31 age-, sex-, and race-matched nonobese individuals, obese subjects were found to have a more rapid emptying rate than nonobese subjects (Wright et al. 1983). Obese men were found to empty much more rapidly than their nonobese counterparts. It was concluded that the rate of solid gastric emptying in the obese subjects is abnormally rapid. Although the significance and cause of this change in gastric emptying remains to be definitively established, it has been shown that several peptides, including cholecystokinin (CCK) and corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), suppress feeding and decrease gastric transit. The inhibitory effect of peripherally administered CCK-8 on the rate of gastric emptying contributes to its ability to inhibit food intake in various species (Moran and McHugh 1982). CRF is also known to decrease food intake and the rate of gastric emptying by peripheral injection (Sheldon et al. 1990). More recently, it was shown that in ob/ob mice (a genetic model of obesity), the rate of gastric emptying was accelerated compared with that in lean mice (Asakawa et al. 1999). Urocortin, a 40-amino acid peptide member of the CRF family, dose-dependently and potently decreased food intake and body weight gain as well as the rate of gastric emptying, in ob/ob mice. This suggests that rapid gastric emptying may contribute to hyperphagia and obesity in ob/ob mice and opens new possibilities for the treatment of obesity.
There have been a number of reports on gastrointestinal electrical stimulation for the treatment of gastrointestinal motility disorders in both dogs and humans (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,423,872, 5,690,691, and 5,836,994; PCT International Publication No. WO 99/30776; Bellahsene et al. 1992; Mintchev et al. 1998; Mintchev et al. 1999; Mintchev et al. 2000; Chen et al. 1998; Chen et al. 1995c). These disorders are characterized by poor contractility and delayed emptying (by contrast with obesity) and the aim of electrical stimulation in this setting is to normalize the underlying electrical rhythm and improve these parameters. In general, this is done by antegrade or forward gastric (or intestinal) stimulation.
Previous work on antegrade gastrointestinal stimulation has been focused on its effects on a) gastric myoelectrical activity, b) gastric motility, c) gastric emptying, and d) gastrointestinal symptoms (Lin et al. 1998; Eagon and Kelly 1993; Hocking et al. 1992; Lin et al. 2000a; McCallum et al. 1998; Miedema et al. 1992; Qian et al. 1999; Abo et al. 2000; Bellahsene et al. 1992). These studies have conclusively shown that entrainment of gastric slow waves is possible using an artificial pacemaker. Recent studies have indicated that such entrainment is dependent on certain critical parameters, including the width and frequency of the stimulation pulse (Lin et al. 1998). It has also been shown that antegrade intestinal electrical stimulation can entrain intestinal slow waves using either serosal electrodes (Lin et al. 2000a) or intraluminal ring electrodes (Bellahsene et al. 1992).
Obesity is one of the most prevalent public health problems in the United States. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, “overweight” (body mass index or BMI=25.0-29.9 kg/m2) adults now represent 59.4% of the male and 50.7% of the female population in this country, totaling more than 97 million people. The corresponding figures for “obesity” (BMI≧30) are about 19.5% for men and 25% for women, involving a total of almost 40 million people. “Morbid obesity” or clinically severe obesity (BMI≧40 or >100 lbs over normal weight) affects more than 15 million Americans (Kuczmarski et al. 1994; Troiano et al. 1995; Flegal et al. 1998; Kuczmarski et al. 1997). The treatment of obesity and its primary comorbidities costs the US healthcare system more than $100 billion each year (Klein 2000; Martin et al. 1995; Colditz 1992; Wolf and Colditz 1998); in addition, consumers spend in excess of $33 billion annually on weight-reduction products and services (House Committee 1990). Moreover, obesity is associated with an increased prevalence of socioeconomic hardship due to a higher rate of disability, early retirement, and widespread discrimination (Enzi 1994; Gortmaker et al. 1993).
Obesity is a complex, multifactorial and chronic condition characterized by excess body fat. Obesity results from an imbalance between energy expenditure and caloric intake. Although the causes of this imbalance are not completely understood, genetic and/or acquired physiologic events and environmental factors are important. Recent studies have shown that approximately a third of the variance in adult body weights results from genetic influences (Stunkard 1996). In this regard, much attention has been paid to leptin, an adipocyte- and placenta-derived circulating protein that communicates the magnitude of fat stores to the brain. A deficiency of leptin (ob/ob) or a defective leptin receptor (db/db) seems responsible for obesity in ob/ob and db/db mice and obese Zucker rats (Frederich et al. 1995). Various gastrointestinal peptides, such as cholecystokinin, enterostatin and glucagon and neurotransmitters (serotonin) that provide communication between the brain, gastrointestinal tract and adipose tissue also may have an etiologic role in obesity (Bandini et al. 1990). Possible environmental mechanisms for obesity involve pharmacologic agents (such as antipsychotic drugs and certain antidepressants), cultural and ethnic factors (Morley 1987), hyperphagia and high fat intake (Sobal and Stunkard 1989), inactivity, and psychological factors, such as overeating resulting from emotional distress, including poor mood or depression and low self-esteem (Namnoum 1993).
Obesity is a major risk factor for many chronic diseases, including diabetes mellitus type II, cardiovascular diseases, reproductive disorders, certain cancers, gallbladder disease, respiratory disease and other comorbidities, such as osteoarthritis, edema, gastroesophageal reflux, urinary stress incontinence, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, or venous stasis disease of the lower extremities (AACE/ACE Position 1998). Although patients with type II diabetes are not necessarily obese, weight gain before the development of type II diabetes is common (Despres 1993). Obesity is the most powerful environmental risk factor for diabetes mellitus type II (Kissebah et al. 1989) and the prevalence of diabetes is 2.9 times higher in overweight (BMI ≧27.8 in men and ≧27.3 in women) than in non-overweight subjects 20 to 75 years of age (NIH 1985). When this age range is narrowed to between 20 and 45 years, this risk is 3.8 times higher (Van Itallie 1985). Mortality due to cardiovascular disease is almost 50% higher in obese patients than in those of average weight and is 90% higher in those with severe obesity (Namnoum 1993). Sixty percent of obese patients have hypertension (Alpert and Hashimi 1993). Fatty infiltration of the myocardium, right hypertrophy, excess epicardial fat, abnormalities of ventricular function, and increased left ventricular filling pressure all seem closely related to the duration of obesity (Nakajima et al. 1985). Obesity has a detrimental effect on female reproductive function (Thompson 1997). In comparison with normal-weight women, obese female patients have a higher mortality rate from cancer of the gallbladder, biliary passages, breast, uterus and ovaries (NIH 1985). Obese men have a higher rate of mortality from rectal and prostate cancer than nonobese men (NIH 1985). Both obese men and women have an increased risk of colon cancer. Obesity is a common cause of sleep apnea and about 50% to 70% of patients diagnosed with sleep apnea are obese (Douglas 1995). Sleep apnea is associated with an increased risk of vehicular accidents and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular incidents (Douglas 1995).
In the past, the success of treatment modalities for obesity was measured by the rate and amount of weight loss. More recently, success is being measured by the ability to achieve and maintain a clinically helpful and significant weight loss and by the salutary effects of weight loss on comorbidities of obesity. The treatment of obesity can be classified into three categories: general measures, pharmacotherapy and surgical treatment.
Typically, an obese patient is first counseled about adopting some general measures such as caloric restriction, behavior therapy and physical activity. The goal of this program is to integrate positive eating and physical activity behaviors into the patient's life. Although an acceptable weight loss may be achieved with such measures, maintaining weight loss seems to be more difficult, particularly for patients who were treated with caloric restriction. About 50% of patients regain weight within one year after the treatment and almost all patients regain weight within 5 years (AACE/ACE Position 1998).
Pharmacotherapy of obesity has been problematic. Amphetamine derivatives such as fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine have been commonly used until their recent withdrawal from the market due to the long-term risk of cardiovascular effects (Bray and Greenway 1999). A number of other FDA-approved drugs are currently available for the medical treatment of obesity. These include sibutramine, diethylpropion, mazindol, phentermine, phenylpropanolamine, orlistat etc. (Bray and Greenway 1999; Hvizdos et al. 1999). Sibutramine, a centrally acting antiobesity agent, was recently approved by the FDA for use up to 1 year. Its clinical efficacy has been evaluated in about 4,600 patients worldwide (Smith 1997). Its adverse events include dry mouth, anorexia and constipation. It has several drug interactions and cannot be used in patients with poorly controlled or uncontrolled hypertension, severe renal impairment, severe hepatic dysfunction, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, and etc. Diethylpropion, mazindol and phentermine are approved only for short-term use and their clinical efficacy is very much limited. Diethlpropion, an anorexic agent, is effective in producing weight loss but is indicated for use up to only a few weeks. A clinical trial indicated a weigh loss ranging from 6.6 kg to 11.3 kg but 82% of the 200 patients did not complete the trial (Le Riche and Csima 1967). Mazindol, structurally related to the tricyclic antidepressant agents, seems to act by blocking norepinephrine reuptake and synaptically release dopamine. It is effective as an appetite suppressant. Loss of weight of 12 to 14 kg was reported in a one-year study. However, the placebo group also showed a weight loss of 10 kg (Enzi et al. 1976). Phenylpropanolamine is an over-the-counter drug as an aid in weight reduction. This agent acts on the α1-receptor and is used systemically as an appetite suppressant. In a comprehensive obesity-management program, it was shown an increased weight loss by 0.25 to 0.5 pound weekly in comparison with placebo. However, its effect diminishes after 4 weeks (Lasagna 1988; Greenway 1992).
Surgical treatment is typically reserved for patients with morbid obesity (BMI >40) (Consensus Development 1991). Two options are generally available. The first is a restrictive operation designed to make the stomach smaller, such as vertical banded gastroplasty (also called gastric stapling) which can be done laparoscopically (Doldi et al. 2000; Balsiger et al. 2000). Vertical banded gastroplasty results in a weight loss for at least 2 years (Sagar 1995) but some of the weight lost may be regained within 5 years (Nightengale et al. 1991). Longer follow-up studies are not available (Sagar 1995). The second kind of surgery is a gastric bypass operation that promotes mal-digestion of ingested nutrients. This includes procedures such as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or extensive gastric bypass (biliopancreatic diversion) (Institute of Medicine 1995; Benotti and Forse 1995; Fried and Peskova 1997; Scorpinaro et al. 1996; Scopinaro et al. 1981). Roux-en Y gastric bypass produces more substantial weight loss than vertical banded gastroplasty (Brolin et al. 1992; Sugerman et al. 1992). This procedure is a more complicated gastric bypass that successfully promotes weight loss. Other surgical approaches include intestinal bypass (effective but associated with major complications), jaw wiring (effective while used), and liposuction (cosmetic procedure). The risks involved with surgical treatment of morbid obesity are substantial. While the immediate operative mortality rate for both vertical banded gastroplasty and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass has been relative low, morbidity in the early postoperative period (wound infections, dehiscence, leaks from staple-line breakdown, stomal stenosis, marginal ulcers, various pulmonary problems and deep thrombophlebitis in the aggregate) may be as high as 10% or more. In the later postoperative period, other problems may arise and may require reoperative surgery. Such problems include pouch and distal esophageal dilation, persistent vomiting (with or without stomal obstruction), cholecystitis or failure to lose weight. Moreover, mortality and mobidity associated with reoperative surgery are higher than those associated with primary operations. In the long term, micronutrient deficiencies, particularly of vitamin B12, folate and iron, are common after gastric bypass and must be sought and treated. Another potential result of this operation is the so-called “dumping syndrome” which is characterized by gastrointestinal distress and other symptoms.
A need continues to exist for additional feasible and suitable means to treat obesity. Likewise, a need continues to exist for additional feasible and suitable means to treat other gastrointestinal tract disorders.